#WeekendCoffeeShare – Time I Write More!

Posted on February 11, 2017 by Dale | 54 Comments

If we were having coffee, I would suggest you remain in your quarters and I in mine as I am suffering from quite the head cold. I thought I had managed to avoid falling in the flu/cold trap, having stayed away from all who have succumbed, but apparently I didn’t need to be in an afflicted one’s presence to get it. I cannot even blame my co-worker Jimmy as my sore throat started the day before we worked together on Thursday. Besides, Jimmy’s always coughing. Oh well. I will ride it out.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that I so wish my eldest would get his friggen driver’s license (what is with today’s youth?) so that I could send him off to the store to get me something to help me breathe instead of having to go out there – here’s where I wish I had a significant other who gave a damn… Again, oh well. I am resilient, will go out there, bundled up, and get what needs getting. Please note, I am not complaining. Much.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you how happy I am that Thursday’s banquet participants did NOT eat all the soup as we co-workers were able to bring home the left-overs. Score! What better to eat than soup (yeah, yeah, should be chicken noodle, but whatever) when one is ill? There were six, I’ve already eaten one!

As I haven’t written a coffee share in a little while, I shall cheat a tad and move back to last Thursday (February 2nd) and share what I’ve been up to. On Thursday, I was very sad to have to attend my friend, Richard’s funeral. He was a lovely man: father, fiancé, 2-dan black-belt in karate (which is where I met him) and good buddy of Mick’s. If there is a heaven, then the two of them are already sharing a beer and reminiscing about their time on earth.

Richard holding wood for Iain

Richard Valérie Cassandre

On Friday, I participated in a Skype session with Rochelle Wisoff-Fields and Sarah Potter, two lovely ladies I have met in the Blogosphere. Both published authors, both have become good friends. One over in Belton, Missouri, the other, way over in East Sussex, England. How cool is it that we can chat, and see each other when we are so far apart? I’ve read all of their books and will read anything more they ever write. They’ve both been a positive influence in my writing and my dream is to one day count myself one of them, as in, a published author. Guess I better get writing, eh?

Rochelle, FF Facilitator, Friend, Mentor

Sarah Potter

Saturday was long-time friend Dany’s birthday so, as they (Dany & Giselle) had to cancel their New Year’s Eve Party due to the lovely flu, they decided to celebrate Dany’s birthday with the same gang invited originally. What a fun time we had. Great to have a garage that is warm and clear enough to use! I don’t usually like to repeat what foods I bring but I made an exception in this case. Dany had so enjoyed it over a year and a half ago at Martin’s party that I remade it. Duck carpaccio (I prefer prosciutto) with pear, topped with Meyer lemon curd and cured red onions. Oh my. A symphony in the mouth – Dany’s words!

Dany’s birthday cake

The whole gang

Duck prosciutto, pear, cured red onions, Meyer lemon curd

Duck prosciutto assembled

Then on Sunday, I was invited for dinner at the Hébert’s, my departed friend, Roxanne’s parents, Renée and Michel. I was so happy her sister, Linda, and brother and sister-in-law, Michel and Christine joined. I stupidly did not take a picture of the gang so I’ll just have to invite them over to my place for another get-together! I hadn’t seen them since Roxie’s death – well, not Michel and Christine, these two I joined for the viewing of Purple Rain after Prince’s death. I offered to bring dessert which was an “Old-Fashioned Silver Cake” that I served with warmed four-berry compote and a dusting of icing sugar. ‘Twas a hit and such an easy-peasy cake to make that I shall definitely remake it!

If we were having coffee, I’d say, I have to thank Janet for encouraging me to write more. Janet is also a friend found in the blogosphere that I connected with. She is a chef, writer, artist that I admire a LOT. During this morning’s FB Messenger session, I was telling her about last Friday’s Skype session and that I was hoping that hanging around real published authors would rub off on me. She said, maybe stop reading as much and give some time to writing. Whaaaaat? Of course. I knew that. I guess I have been thinking about it more than doing it. So here I am. After all my computer issues in November, my NaNoWriMo got cut short. Nothing stopping me from going back to writing down my stories, right?

So that’s it for today’s coffee share. I am planning on participating more. This week is hostess Diana’s (Part-Time Monster) last week hosting her baby. I didn’t realise this has been going on since 2014! To read more stories, click on the coffee cup above. Starting next week, we will be found on Emily’s blog Nerd in the Brain (Don’t you just love that title?)

I have been slowly been feeling more and more stuffed up so I think I shall make myself a nice hot toddy with some lemon, honey, ginger and a shot of gin. If nothing else, I will care less about feeling so miserable!

#WeekendCoffeeShare – The Waiting Game

Posted on January 17, 2016 by Dale | 46 Comments

If we were having coffee, I’d ask you what you preferred, as I have many options. As for me, I’ll be having something strong as I want to stay awake for our chat. I shall explain in a bit.

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you what was left of my week was nice and normal!

One walk worth mentioning with Zeke.

Oh! And I almost forgot. My bad. On Thursday I got a surprise in the mail. Janet, sweetheart that she is, sent me this lovely bracelet as a gift! Thank you so much, you shouldn’t have…. but I totally appreciate that you did! How lucky am I?

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that come Saturday, it was the engagement celebration brunch of my lovely neighbour/former babysitter Aalia and her finacé, Fahad. As a hip young couple, they have been dubbed Fahaalia – how cute is that? An insanely gorgeous couple… The invitation said 10:30 am. I set my alarm, got ready and was there for 10:30 a.m. And realised that, besides the groom-to-be and a couple of friends helping with the set-up, I was ridiculously early. Hmmm. I received a text from Aalia’s sister, Fhameeda telling me: Aalia says 11:30 is fine!! Uh huh. Right. My response was: Shit, shit, shit. I rushed to get here. Fhum (her nickname) apologised and invited me to join her at her home which is a mere 500-600 m away. Not that far except, of course, I was wearing high-heeled boots. And very not-friendly walking boots, I might add. Give a great leg, though! I wasn’t going to take my car (I had prime real estate in my parking, paid for – should have been my first clue that I was really early when I found a spot directly in front of the restaurant!) So, I stayed. While I waited, I sat at a table near the entrance, while enjoying a cappuccino. And watched as one group after another arrived, knowing a whole lot of no one! It was wonderful to watch all the lovely Indian and Pakistani women arrive in their beautiful saris and sparkly sandals – they are not fans of nylons or tights, no matter how cold it is! Everyone was dressed to the nines. So refreshing in today’s day to see people making an effort to dress really nicely.

Finally people I knew! Parvin and Hussein, Aalia’s parents, her brother Na’eem with Abeille and their son, Zayne, and finally her sister Fhameeda, Mike and 3-week-old Sofia. Phew! I was officially introduced to some of Aalia’s co-workers and ended up sitting with them. What fun we had getting to know each other! The brunch was delicious and great fun was had by all.

The Couple

The Two Families

Me and Sofia

I got home fairly late in the afternoon with a bunch of their gifts and such in my car as the grand-parents were bringing Zayne with them to babysit and didn’t have enough room. When Aalia came to pick up her stuff she told me she was so sorry about my being there early. She made me laugh as she said she would have to send out two invitations for the wedding itself. One for the “brown” people and one for the “non-brown” members (her words, not mine)! Apparently we don’t all have the same concept of time! She said they are notorious for arriving a good hour late which is why the invitation said 10:30 instead of 11:30!!! Now I know. Won’t be making that mistake again! All good. As I said, it was fun to watch them all parade in.

Later on in the afternoon, I got started on some chicken parmigiana. Just as I put the spaghetti into the boiling water, I got a phone call from Alex of Le Barbù, Iain’s place of work. I knew there was a problem immediately. Alex told me that Iain had cut himself quite badly. I left instructions for Aidan and hightailed it out of there to pick up Iain. It is a mere kilometre away so there was no wasting of time. We had to come back for Iain’s wallet and made our way to the hospital. I could gross you out and show you pictures – yeah, we’re weird like that and take pics of these things, but I shall spare you. Suffice it to say that he chopped a good chunk of his thumb, through the nail, but not all the way. After SEVEN HOURS WAIT, we were finally seen by the doctor who decided to sew him up rather than just cut it off. Blech. Can I just say that my son is one tough cookie? I think the worst part was the freezing of said thumb. Dr. Vincent was very nice and Iain had him laughing – definitely his father’s son – with his comments and such. We got home at 4:00 a.m.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that I’ve been on slo-mo all day and have been barely functional. Thank goodness for leftovers!

I hope I didn’t cause your tummies to do too many flip-flops in the describing of my son’s injury!

I do wish you have a most wonderful week and thank you for stopping by. You know you are always welcome. There is nothing I like better than sitting and chatting with a friend.

Thank you to Diana at Part-Time Monster for hosting this every week. If you would like to read about other shares, just click on the box at the top!

#WeekendCoffeeShare – Lunches and Love

Posted on December 14, 2015 by Dale | 35 Comments

If we were having coffee, or tea, or wine or whatever you wish to drink, I would tell you I do not want to start this post with an “oh my gosh, I’ve been so busy” because that has become over-used in my vocabulary. I used to loathe people who claimed to be so fricken “busy”. Well. Glass houses and all that. I know that my busyness is based on my total lack of organisation and choice to occasionally sit at my computer and chat with friends from far away. I could tell them no, I’m not available right now but I choose not to. Then pay the price. A price, by the way, I am most willing to pay as I shall always choose people over stuff and work.

By the way, as it is late (again, I’m posting late), I am having a nice “Nighttime Herbal Tea”.

On Monday evening, my friend Mario stopped by for dinner and a great bottle of wine, or two. I’m so glad I decided to make the port tenderloin with prune sauce! Went very well with the wine he brought! Phone call to his wife and he was set up in the guest room. No driving for him, that’s for sure! (Sorry… forgot to take a picture of the pork to tantalise you!)

On Wednesday, I had lunch with my friend Michèle. We rushed to go to her favourite little Asian place because it is always full by noon. Hah! Only about 5-6 tables ended up being filled… go figure! Every time we get together we just laugh and laugh and laugh… Okay, truth be told, I make her laugh. She so reminds me of my dearly departed friend Roxanne who’s laugh just filled a room. I really must tell her that… My car was so filthy, I decided to take it to a car wash just around the corner from my house. Between going up north where we park in the sand, bringing Zeke in the car, and just plain driving around, it was in dire need. I am not a fan of washing my own car – I think it’s a “guy-thing” – plus it’s not the season so I think it was a most well-invested Nineteen bucks plus three bucks for tip! Plus, while waiting, under the parasol, I ended up chatting with this really nice guy. He looked at me and asked me point-blank what my name was as he was sure he knew me from some place. Turns out he was right. We went to the same high school! He’s a year younger so, of course, he recognised me faster than I him! We were actually both gym rats and he played on the handball team. What a small world.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that I might have gone overboard on Thursday! I went out for both lunch AND dinner that day. Armen took me out for lunch and we went to one of Mick’s favourite places, Le Barbú, and talked about our guy. You see, the next day, the 11th, was the first anniversary of our worlds being turned upside down – the day Mick had his heart attacks – a day that was just unbelievable. I think it was quite cathartic for us to spend the afternoon reminiscing. Later that evening, I met with another friend and we had dinner in the Gay Village of Montreal. There’s this great little restaurant called Mozza, Pasta and Passion where you can bring your own wine and the whole menu is table d’hote – meaning each meal comes with the best Caesar’s Salad, the escargot du moment (snails “of the moment”) and a pasta of your choosing. Crazy combos like brie and green apple or chocolate pasta and oka cheese or, if you are not too adventurous, the old stand-bys like romanoff or alfredo. We were very pleased that we had our waiter Raphaël as we knew he was leaving soon as a student exchange to Australia. Such a sweetie-pie, he is. This is the one restaurant where you really want to take a bathroom break! There is a sign beside the door, on your way out that states: When you have finished dancing, please make sure you close the door on your way out!

Inside the bathroom!

St. Catherine St. East, Gay Village

On Friday I received much love from family and friends via Facebook, texts, in person. Virtual hugs are as good as physical ones, I can assure you!

I was thrilled to make my old chocolate-banana cake for my ex-sister-in-law. I had teased her last year on her birthday by sending her a picture of her holding her cake that I had made for her about 25 years ago! I baked the cake on Saturday after work so that all I had to do was make the icing this morning – a white chocolate and dark chocolate ganache topping. It is decadent. I had a devil of a time as my white chocolate ganache split! I managed to get it back together but was not 100% pleased with myself. I didn’t bother taking a picture of the cake this morning so I just went through my archives to find one. Not the best picture but frankly, I need to get to bed before midnight! That gives me 6 minutes so I better hustle! Nicole sent me a picture of the cake – what’s left of it with a thank you. Let’s just say her family were surprised when they opened the box, most of them recognising said cake from the past…

Chocolate-Banana Cake

Inside

And, of course, I’ve not teased you enough with the food pictures, so here are the two meals I prepared today for my customers. Just so happened I, for once, made myself one of the rigatoni pies too!

Rigatoni Pie

Inside

Hopefully I’ve not left your tummy rumbling too much! I’m hoping I’ll be a tad more organised this coming week food-wise. One of my families has taken a break from my services until the end of January, so I would like to believe I will be. HAHAHAHAHAH! Who am I kidding?

If we were having coffee, I would want to end this with something that totally inspired me. I was watching Oprah’s Super Soul Sunday with Zainab Salbi – a most inspiring, beautiful, amasing woman and I cannot tell you how thrilled I am that I managed to find the video of her reading her own poem, “What If I Am Not Sadness”.

Have a wonderful week, my fellow Blogging Buddies!

xoxo

#WeekendCoffeeShare – A Jumble of Things

Posted on November 14, 2015 by Dale | 51 Comments

Thank you to Diana from Part-Time Monster for hosting this wonderful group!

If we were having coffee, I’d be serving it in my brand-new café au lait bowl and pretend we were sitting in a Paris Café. Since we were pretending, the horrors of last night would never have occurred and we would feel blissfully safe and unconcerned, watching the passersby go about their business.

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you how pleased I am with my sons who helped to clean up the yard and put away all the backyard paraphernalia. I’m sure Mick would have been pleased with the way we packed everything in the shed! There are still a few things to take care of, but the majority of it is done!

There was only one walk worth mentioning, and that was with my sister and her two dogs in her hometown of Varennes. I stupidly did not bring my camera and only took one photo with my phone! It was such a gorgeous day and we finished the walk with breakfast prepared by sister herself. Upon my return home, I noted the apple Fairy had passed again. Still don’t know who they are from!!

Varennes

Apple Fairy passed by

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you I cannot believe that in November, my roses are still blooming… mayhaps not as wild and bright but blooming nonetheless! And one day, a shrub is on fire with colour and a small windstorm later, denuded!

Still blooming

On fire

Denuded

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you that there are wonderful people out there, just willing to lend a hand or offer their time for no other reason than “just because”. My eldest, Iain wants to join the military so my sister’s neighbour, Aldo, who has appeared in this blog before, and is military man himself, offered to not only speak with Iain to explain the ins and outs of joining but also offered to bring him on a tour of our very small base in St.Hubert, so he could see and ask questions to the men and women on duty. There was a bonus as we met for lunch first at a small market with a food court right near said base and where many military folk go for lunch. As I was picking up my lunch, Iain and Aldo were chatting with a guy from the Air Force. All of a sudden, Iain’s choices widened. Will be interesting to see where this goes. I am beyond grateful to Aldo for taking the time to do this and for following up and offering to help him prepare for the interviews and whatever else he will need in the near future. Aldo, you are a prince amongst men!

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you I was pleasantly surprised by the Whitehorse concert on Thursday evening. This duo, made up of the husband and wife team of Luke Doucet and Melissa McClellan, were something else to watch. Just the two of them, but with a few bells and whistles. Luke would get on the drum, beat out some beats and the beatbox would take over so he could move over to his guitar. Speaking of guitars, that last picture… shows, what I suspect, is his “baby”. It has such a raw sound that both my date and I were totally enthralled with.

I was especially pleased to have discovered a new talent (to me, anyway) as the opening act. Ms. Fiona Beven, a lovely English lass, has a voice that is a mixture of India.Arie and Corinne Bailey Rae. Just her and her guitar or ukulele… wonderful.

If you are not tired of me yet, I would then add a few random things. Anyone who sits and chats with me knows that I talk and talk and talk and subjects jump from one to another, to the point that, once I am alone, I wonder if the other person had a chance to talk and, did I finish any one subject? As an example: I just received my latest book purchase and cannot wait to start them. Assuming I shall find time to read! And I grabbed the jar of roasted pumpkin seeds and am aghast at how few are left! No matter how much I try to ration them, they will not last forever. Iain and I are huge fans. Truth be told, if Mick were here, there would be none. I had to hide the jars from him!

Latest arrivals

Ever decreasing pumpkin seeds

Oh. Em. Gee. In all my chattering, I totally forgot to mention that I started a new job yesterday! At my friend Tina’s suggestion, I applied for a Christmas Season Job at Pier 1. I figured it would get me out of the house and away from my stove and give me the opportunity to meet people and exchange, and, if I’m any good, sell them items! I’ve always loved their store (MY store, now!) and fell in love with their Christmas commercials from a few years ago. “Find what speaks to you”… what a brilliant slogan… This was one of them (hopefully the link works as all the others were made private).

Now that I’ve talked your ear off, so to speak, do tell me, how have you been? What have you been up to this past week? Truly, it’s my turn to listen, and I will gladly pour us another cup. Please do share!